ARCHITECTURE
Cathedral Church of the Holy Family At a time when Ukraine is very much in the news, Paul Waddington takes a look at the London cathedral of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
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n a very fashionable area of Mayfair, only 100 yards from Oxford Street and close to Grosvenor Square, can be found the Cathedral of the Holy Family. It is the cathedral church of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of London. The word eparchy is the term used in Orthodox Churches to describe a diocese. Before describing this very fine building, we should, perhaps, say something about the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGKC) is a sui juris Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with Rome. It is the largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches, currently having around 4.1 million members worldwide. Within Ukraine itself, the UGCC is the third largest denomination, behind the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (subservient to the Moscow Patriarchate) and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (recognised by the Patriarchate of Constantinople). The west frontage of the cathedral The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church predominates in Lviv and the western Parishes developed oblasts of Ukraine, but has a significant In 1957, the Apostolic Exarchate for diaspora in a dozen countries, including Poland, the United States and Canada. In Ukrainian Catholics in England and Wales was formed - an exarchate being a England, there are thought to be about mission territory with a status somewhat 25,000 members, mostly concentrated below that of an eparchy or diocese. in London and the industrial regions William (later Cardinal) Godfrey, the around Birmingham and Manchester. then Archbishop of Westminster, Towards the end of the nineteenth became the first Exarch and served in century, Ukrainians began to settle in that role until his death in 1963, when England, especially in the Manchester he was replaced by Bishop Hornyak, a area. Although they had no resident native Ukrainian. Gradually, Ukrainian priest of their own, a priest from Greek Catholic parishes were developed, Belgium or France would occasionally and these now number thirteen, mostly visit, and a community built up around the Church of St Chad, which is now in the Midlands and around Manchester. the home of the Manchester Oratory. Finally, in 2013, Pope Benedict XVI It was not until the Second World War, raised the Exarchate to become the when priests were sent to minister to Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Ukrainian troops, that this community Family, giving it independence from the gained a regular chaplain. Archdiocese of Westminster.
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The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church acquired its Cathedral of the Holy Family in 1967 with the help of Cardinal Heenan, who funded the purchase of the “Kings Weigh House Church”, a redundant Nonconformist chapel in Mayfair. This building, and the particular sect that occupied it, had an interesting history, dating back to the Act of Uniformity of 1662, when part of a congregation in the City of London seceded from the Established Church and set up its own independent chapel. Its first premises were in Cornhill above a building where imported goods were weighed for taxation purposes. This Congregational sect became known as the Kings Weigh House Church, a name that it retained throughout its 300 years of existence. It later moved to a site now occupied by Monument Underground Station. The building of the Metropolitan & District Railway forced further moves ending in 1891 with a new and very fine chapel being built in the West End. At its new location, the Kings Weigh House Church, as it was still popularly known, gained a reputation for lively preaching, most notably by one Rev. Dr W E Orchard, the minister who was in charge from 1913 to 1932. Although a Congregationalist, he has been described as idiosyncratic, and was accused of having Romish tendencies. Some sources suggest he reconciled to the Catholic faith before he died. During his tenure, the eastern end was converted into a chancel by relocating the organ and inserting additional windows which were filled with stained glass. The remodelled chancel was provided with a marble floor. After his departure the congregation began to decline and was dealt a major blow in 1940 when a bomb fell on the church during a communion service
SUMMER 2022
